# SAFF Championship

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This article is about the men's tournament. For the women's tournament, see [SAFF Women's Championship](/source/SAFF_Women's_Championship).

The **SAFF Championship** (earlier the **SAARC Gold Cup** and the **SAFF Gold Cup**) is the primary [football](/source/Association_football) competition contested by the senior [men's national teams](/source/List_of_men's_national_association_football_teams) of the [South Asian Football Federation](/source/South_Asian_Football_Federation) (SAFF), determining the [sub-continental champion](/source/Sub-continental_football_championships_in_Asia) of the [South Asia](/source/South_Asia).

## History

Countries that currently compete in the tournaments are [Bangladesh](/source/Bangladesh_national_football_team), [Bhutan](/source/Bhutan_national_football_team), [India](/source/India_national_football_team), [Maldives](/source/Maldives_national_football_team), [Nepal](/source/Nepal_national_football_team), [Pakistan](/source/Pakistan_national_football_team) and [Sri Lanka](/source/Sri_Lanka_national_football_team). It is held approximately every two years. India won the title 9 times, 7 more than second most successful, Maldives.[1] [Afghanistan](/source/Afghanistan_national_football_team) joined the SAFF in 2005 and left in 2015 to become a founding member of the [Central Asian Football Association](/source/Central_Asian_Football_Association) (CAFA).

The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship kicked off in [Lahore](/source/Lahore) in 1993, evolving out of its forerunner, the South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation (SAARC) Gold Cup. Since its inception, the biennial competition has developed into South Asia's premier football tournament, promoting the regional development of the game. The SAFF Championship was first postponed from October 2001 to January 2002 due to the suspension of the [Bangladesh Football Federation](/source/Bangladesh_Football_Federation); the tournament finally took place in 2003.[2] The 2021 edition of the tournament was postponed twice due to the [COVID-19 pandemic](/source/COVID-19_pandemic_in_South_Asia).[3]

## Organisation

Sports marketing, media, and event management company [Sportfive](/source/Sportfive) (formerly [Lagardère Sports](/source/Lagard%C3%A8re_Sports)) has been involved in the tournament since 2025.[4]

### Title sponsorship

Period Sponsor Name 1993 No title sponsor SAARC Gold Cup 1995 Ceylon Tobacco Company Bristol SAARC Gold Cup 1997 No title sponsor SAFF Gold Cup 1999 Coca-Cola SAFF Coca-Cola Cup 2003–2005 No title sponsor SAFF Gold Cup 2008 SAFF Championship 2009 BEXIMCO Bangabandhu SAFF Championship 2011 Karbonn Karbonn SAFF Championship 2013 No title sponsor SAFF Championship 2015–2018 Suzuki SAFF Suzuki Cup 2021 Ooredoo Ooredoo SAFF Championship 2023 Bashundhara Toiletries Bangabandhu SAFF Championship Source: GSA

## Results

Ed. Year Hosts Final Third place playoff No. of teams Champions Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place 1 1993 Pakistan ' RR RR 4 2 1995 Sri Lanka ' 1–0 Bangladesh and Nepal 5 3 1997 Nepal ' 5–1 1–0 6 4 1999 India ' 2–0 2–0 6 5 2003 Bangladesh ' 1–1 2–1 8 6 2005 Pakistan ' 2–0 MDV and Pakistan 8 7 2008 Maldives Sri Lanka ' 1–0 BHU and Sri Lanka 8 8 2009 Bangladesh ' 0–0 Bangladesh and Sri Lanka 8 9 2011 India ' 4–0 MDV and Nepal 8 10 2013 Nepal ' 2–0 MDV and Nepal 8 11 2015 India ' 2–1 MDV and Sri Lanka 7 12 2018 Bangladesh ' 2–1 Nepal and Pakistan 7 13 2021 Maldives ' 3–0 RR[a] 5 14 2023 India ' 1–1 Bangladesh and Lebanon 8 15 2026 Bangladesh

## Overall records

In this ranking [3 points are awarded for a win](/source/Three_points_for_a_win), 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss. Matches decided in [extra time](/source/Overtime_(sports)#Association_football) are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by [penalty shoot-outs](/source/Penalty_shoot-out_(association_football)) are counted as draws. Teams are ranked by total points, then by goal difference, then by goals scored.

Rank Team Part Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts 1 India1 14 62 39 15 8 108 38 +70 132 2 MDV 12 50 25 11 14 98 52 +46 86 3 Bangladesh 13 46 18 12 16 52 47 +5 66 4 Nepal 14 46 14 7 25 51 68 −17 49 5 Sri Lanka 13 41 13 7 21 48 65 −17 46 6 Pakistan 12 39 12 8 19 32 51 −19 44 7 Afghanistan 7 27 12 4 11 48 42 +6 40 8 Kuwait 1 5 3 2 0 9 2 +7 11 9 Lebanon 1 4 3 1 0 7 1 +6 10 10 BHU 9 27 1 1 25 15 102 −87 4

1Including [India U23 team](/source/India_national_under-23_football_team).

Nation Champions Runners-up Third-place Fourth-place Semi-finalists India 9 (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009,[b] 2011, 2015, 2021, 2023) 4 (1995, 2008, 2013, 2018) 1 (2003) – – Maldives 2 (2008, 2018) 3 (1997, 2003, 2009) 2 (1999, 2021) – 4 (2005, 2011, 2013, 2015) Bangladesh 1 (2003) 2 (1999, 2005) 1 (1995) 1 (2021) 3 (1995, 2009, 2023) Afghanistan* 1 (2013) 2 (2011, 2015) – – – Sri Lanka 1 (1995) 1 (1993) – 1 (1997) 3 (2008, 2009, 2015) Nepal – 1 (2021) 1 (1993) 2 (1995, 1999) 3 (2011, 2013, 2018) Kuwait3 – 1 (2023) – – – Pakistan – – 1 (1997) 2 (1993, 2003) 2 (2005, 2018) Bhutan – – – – 1 (2008) Lebanon3 – – – – 1 (2023)

- Bold = *Hosts*
- * = *No longer SAFF member*
- 3 = *Invited as guest teams from [WAFF](/source/West_Asian_Football_Federation)*

## Results by tournament

**Legend**

- '***– Champions***
- '***– Runners-up***
- '***– Third place***
- '***– Fourth place***
- '***– Semifinals[1](#1)***
- GS – Group stage
- DQ – Disqualified/Suspended by [FIFA](/source/FIFA)/[AFC](/source/Asian_Football_Confederation)/[SAFF](/source/SAFF)
- Q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
- — Hosts
- × – Did not enter
- **×** – Withdrew before tournament begins
- — Not part of SAFF

Team 1993 1995 1997 1999 2003 2005 2008 2009 2011 2013 2015 2018 2021 2023 2026 Total Bangladesh × SF GS 2nd 1st 2nd GS SF GS GS GS GS GS SF Q 13 BHU Not part of SAFF GS GS SF GS GS GS GS GS × GS Q 9 India2 1st 2nd 1st 1st 3rd 1st 2nd 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 1st Q 14 MDV × × 2nd 3rd 2nd SF 1st 2nd SF SF SF 1st GS GS Q 12 Nepal 3rd SF GS 4th GS GS GS GS SF SF GS SF 2nd GS Q 14 Pakistan 4th GS 3rd GS 4th SF GS GS GS GS × SF DQ GS Q 12 Sri Lanka 2nd 1st 4th GS GS GS SF SF GS GS SF GS GS DQ Q 13 Former team(s) Afghanistan3 Not part of SAFF GS GS GS GS 2nd 1st 2nd Part of CAFA 7 Guest teams Kuwait4 × 2nd × 1 Lebanon4 × SF × 1

1The third-place match was not played in 1995 and has not been played 2003 onwards. 2Including [India U23 team](/source/India_national_under-23_football_team). 3Left [SAFF](/source/South_Asian_Football_Federation) and joined [CAFA](/source/Central_Asian_Football_Association) in 2015. 4Invited as a guest team from the [WAFF](/source/West_Asian_Football_Federation).

## Top goalscorers

Years Player(s) Goals 1993 Inivalappil Mani Vijayan 3 1995 Mohamed Amanulla 3 1997 Inivalappil Mani Vijayan 6 1999 Bhaichung Bhutia 3 Mizanur Rahman Dawn Mohamed Wildhan Naresh Joshi 2003 Sarfraz Rasool 4 2005 Ali Ashfaq 3 Ibrahim Fazeel Ahmed Thariq 2008 Harez Habib 4 2009 Enamul Haque 4 Ahmed Thariq Channa Ediri Bandanage 2011 Sunil Chhetri 7 2013 Ali Ashfaq 10 2015 Khaibar Amani 4 2018 Manvir Singh 3 Hassan Bashir 2021 Sunil Chhetri 5 2023 Sunil Chhetri 5

### Overall

Players with 10 or more goals Rank Nation Player Goals scored 1 Sunil Chhetri 23 Ali Ashfaq 3 Bhaichung Bhutia 12 4 Ibrahim Fazeel 10 Ahmed Thariq

## Winning coaches

Year Team Coach 1993 India Jiří Pešek 1995 Sri Lanka Jorge Perreira 1997 India Syed Nayeemuddin 1999 India Sukhwinder Singh 2003 Bangladesh George Kottan 2005 India Syed Nayeemuddin (2) 2008 MDV Jozef Jankech 2009 India U23 Sukhwinder Singh (2) 2011 India Savio Medeira 2013 Afghanistan Mohammad Yousef Kargar 2015 India Stephen Constantine 2018 MDV Petar Šegrt 2021 India Igor Štimac 2023 India Igor Štimac (2)

## See also

- [SAFF Women's Championship](/source/SAFF_Women's_Championship)
- [AFC Asian Cup](/source/AFC_Asian_Cup)
- [Football at the Asian Games](/source/Football_at_the_Asian_Games)
- [ASEAN Championship](/source/ASEAN_Championship)
- [CAFA Nations Cup](/source/CAFA_Nations_Cup)
- [EAFF E-1 Football Championship](/source/EAFF_E-1_Football_Championship)
- [WAFF Championship](/source/WAFF_Championship)
- [Sub-continental football championships in Asia](/source/Sub-continental_football_championships_in_Asia)
- [Football at the South Asian Games](/source/Football_at_the_South_Asian_Games)
- [SABA Championship](/source/SABA_Championship)
- [CAVA Men's Volleyball Nations League](/source/CAVA_Men's_Volleyball_Nations_League)
- [SAFF U-20 Championship](/source/SAFF_U-20_Championship)
- [SAFF U-17 Championship](/source/SAFF_U-17_Championship)
- [SAFF U-20 Women's Championship](/source/SAFF_U-20_Women's_Championship)
- [SAFF U-17 Women's Championship](/source/SAFF_U-17_Women's_Championship)

## Notes

1. The format of the tournament was changed to [round-robin](/source/Round-robin_tournament) due to the suspension of [Pakistan](/source/Pakistan_national_football_team) and the withdrawal of [Bhutan](/source/Bhutan_national_football_team). Maldives finished third in points and hence listed as third place.[5]

1. India was represented by the [India U-23 team](/source/India_national_under-23_football_team).[6]

## References

1. ["From SAARC Gold Cup to SAFF Championship"](http://givemegoal.com/np/2013/08/03/from-saarc-gold-cup-to-saff-championship/). *Givemegoal.com.np*. 3 August 2013. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180613112224/http://givemegoal.com/np/2013/08/03/from-saarc-gold-cup-to-saff-championship/) 13 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 10 July 2014.

1. ["Infos at goalnepal.com"](http://www.goalnepal.com/news.php?id=26060). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170818090312/http://www.goalnepal.com/news.php?id=26060) 2017-08-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2016-01-03.

1. ["We Will Try Our Best To Host SAFF 2021 Matches In Pokhara"](https://www.goalnepal.com/news/detail/11381). *Goal Nepal*. 27 July 2021. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210727075206/https://www.goalnepal.com/news/detail/11381) 27 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 27 July 2021.

1. ["SAFF Ex.Co meeting approves home or away format for SAFF Championship 2025"](https://saffederation.org/news/read/133?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1p-mTLUjjsuG8u0R5N0ugdPBfpuW7NsHz8eFO2JomTAyQSBf4eey_gohk_aem_qnlzB7QaE1Tte1tA1NR45A). *saffederation.org*. Retrieved 2025-01-08.

1. Mukherjee, Soham (9 September 2021). ["SAFF Championship 2021: Everything you need to know"](https://www.goal.com/en-in/news/all-you-need-to-know-saff-championship-2021-india-national/6r9qsaun8dn01c49l3i4f8qgz). *Goal*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210913075500/https://www.goal.com/en-in/news/all-you-need-to-know-saff-championship-2021-india-national/6r9qsaun8dn01c49l3i4f8qgz) 13 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 18 September 2021.

1. ["South Asian Gold Cup 2009 (Dhaka)"](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/saffgold09.html#:~:text=South%20Asian%20Gold%20Cup%202009,Rec.Sport.Soccer%20Statistics%20Foundation)

## External links

- [Official website](http://www.saffsuzukicup.org/2018/index.html)
- [RSSSF page on the South Asian Federation Cup](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/saffcup.html)
- [South Asia Football–Complete SAFF website](http://www.southasiafootball.com/)
- [SAFF Championship winners since 1993](http://SAFF%20Championship%20winners%20since%201993https://india-sportmart.blogspot.com/2023/07/footballsaff-championshipsaff-cup.html)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [SAFF Championship](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAFF_Championship) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAFF_Championship?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.